They were stupid.
I also noticed a wardrobe malfunction in the episode "The Maquis" I believe. When Dukat is being escorrted throguh the promenade, you can see how cheap and flimsy the Cardassian uniform is, and the whole side has detatched and is flopping around helplessly

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I noticed that, too. Those uniforms looked really good, though, and knowing how expensive costumes can be, I can easily let it slide...

...Cardassian make-up, however, is perhaps the all-time best make-up design to come out of Modern Trek.

Exactly - the Ferengi also walked stooped over and jumped around a lot when introduced. I think those traits and the Cardassian "sombreros" were intended as ways of making those aliens more alien, and they were refined, added, and deleted as time went on.

Not that I'd miss the original stooped Ferengi walk, but it's really simple to explain it away. We only saw it in "The Last Outpost", and the Ferengi seen there on the planetary surface were all under extreme physical duress. Apparently, their lobes didn't like the ambient noise at all...

It would be nice if we could explain the costuming of "The Wounded" as simply as that. Alas, DS9 gave us plenty of flashbacks to timepoints preceding "The Wounded", and everybody there wore the same stylish DS9 gear instead of this early armor.

It would be nice if we could explain the costuming of "The Wounded" as simply as that. Alas, DS9 gave us plenty of flashbacks to timepoints preceding "The Wounded", and everybody there wore the same stylish DS9 gear instead of this early armor.

Timo Saloniemi

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Wellll...apparently we've also got THIS Mr. Photogenic winner to contend with as well, from the episode "Ensign Ro."

What I found odd is that the strange headgear disappears almost as soon as they came on board. Perhaps it was some sort of protective gear when boarding a vessel of an alien species for the first time. It almost looks like it would encircle the head with a forcefield in case the environment was hostile. Just speculation, but the look was very functional in that way.

^Good point. Maybe it's a Magneto-style helmet, to block telepaths. The Cardies strike me as the type who would be paranoid about that sort of thing. On the other hand, maybe they just enjoyed looking silly to their enemies.

^Good point. Maybe it's a Magneto-style helmet, to block telepaths. The Cardies strike me as the type who would be paranoid about that sort of thing. On the other hand, maybe they just enjoyed looking silly to their enemies.

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Makes sense. Lull them into a false sense of security about how you're not a threat since no one who has such rediculous headwear could be threatening, then BAM! You occupy their planet for a few decades.

Of course, given that the Cardassians had conflicts with the Federation prior to Wounded, that theory doesn't exactly mesh...